Family united, only party is different: Dushyant Chautala

CHANDIGARH: Haryana deputy chief minister and Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) leader Dushyant Chautala on Tuesday denied any chance of a political rapprochement between his party and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) after his father Ajay Chautala and estranged uncle Abhay Chautala met on ‘Ram Rami’ — a ritual in Bagri belt held a day after Diwali — and spent time together at the Chautala family’s Tejakhera farmhouse in Sirsa on Monday.
The amicable meeting of the estranged brothers had led to speculation about a possible reunion of the two families. Following the INLD split last year, the two brothers had met a few months ago after the death of their mother Sneh Lata.
However, Dushyant, his mother Naina and brother Digvijay did not attend the event at the farmhouse and instead held a similar ritual at the Chautala House in Sirsa. Last Diwali, Ajay and Abhay had held separate Diwali events for the first time. Ajay had met visitors at the Chautala House and Abhay was at the farmhouse.
Commenting on the family bonhomie, Dushyant said the Chautala family was united and there were only political differences with his estranged uncle, who is the effective head of INLD, with family patriarch OP Chautala serving a jail term in the teachers’ recruitment scam. “The families are united, only parties are different... and it is for them (INLD) to consider who broke the ties,” Dushyant said in Delhi on Tuesday.
“I had said earlier that we will create such circumstances that Chaudhary Om Prakash Chautala (the INLD president) and INLD will be forced to rethink. They took a wrong decision, which affected not only the people of Haryana but also the family,” Dushyant told reporters at his 18 Janpath residence.
He also said that his grandfather O P Chautala — who had sacked his father, him and brother Digvijay from INLD — should rethink now. “We respect him. I am always of the belief that division in the family never helps anyone, it only causes loss,” the JJP leader added.
Former MP Ajay, who is undergoing imprisonment in the same scam as his father in Tihar Jail, was granted a two-week furlough just before Dushyant was sworn in as the deputy chief minister. He attended the oath ceremony on Sunday and went to his hometown Sirsa, where he met Abhay and other members of the extended family, including their uncle Ranjit Singh Chautala, who was elected an Independent MLA and is supporting the BJP-JJP alliance.
The family split happened last year after INLD held a rally at Gohana on October 7 to commemorate the 105th birth anniversary of party founder and former deputy PM Devi Lal. At the rally, Dushyant’s supporters hooted during Abhay’s speech in the presence of O P Chautala. Thereafter, the Chautala Senior disbanded the party’s youth wing and expelled his elder son Ajay along with Dushyant and Digvijay from the party. The incident led to a split in INLD as Dushyant announced setting up of JJP on December 9 last year.
^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

References

1. ^{^} Dushyant Chautala (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
2. ^{^} Indian National Lok Dal (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
3. ^{^} Sirsa (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
4. ^{^} Om Prakash Chautala (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
5. ^{^} Ranjit Singh (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)

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